Evolutionary psychology proposes the investigation of the origins and purposes of cognitive skills that constitute human social cognition. This article presents the social contract theory as an evolutionary model for the study of the cognitive mechanisms and cooperation, such as cheating detection, memory for faces, sense of justice, the influence of prior knowledge and information, vigilance and theory of mind that regulate social interactions. It is concluded that an evolutionary view of human mind produces hypotheses, while game theory provides methods to test them, helping us to understand human nature.
social contract theory; game theory; cooperation; evolutionary psychology; social exchanges
